We are starting from scratch and struggle to identify the first few metrics to put on our company scorecard. How do we build our initial list of 5 to 15 weekly numbers without getting overwhelmed?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Building your first EOS scorecard from scratch starts with a simple diagnostic question. If you were on a desert island with only a phone and could get just a few numbers to know exactly how your business is running, what would those numbers be. Do not look at your current dashboards or software reports. Look at your Accountability Chart instead.

Every major seat on your leadership team must have at least one or two metrics that reflect their core activities. Start by asking each seat owner to list the three most critical activities they perform every week to keep their department running smoothly. For sales, this might be new discovery calls booked. For operations, it might be jobs completed. For finance, it might be weekly cash balance.

Once you have a list of twelve to fifteen potential metrics, run them through a filter. Are these numbers weekly. Are they leading indicators. Are they objective and easy to calculate. If a metric requires hours of analysis, throw it out for now. You want to narrow the list down to five to fifteen vital numbers that give you a high level pulse of your business health.

Put these numbers into your spreadsheet and run with them for several weeks. Do not worry about perfection. Your scorecard is a working document that will evolve over time as your leadership team gets better at identifying which weekly activities truly drive your business forward.